The legacy of GWB...300% import tariff on Roquefort

[lefutur]

http://www.murrayscheese.com/prodinfo.asp?number=CC021709

I've just had a 3 day email debate with 2 friends about the implications of this new tariff here in America. Basically Bush wanted to piss off the French so he enacted a 300% tariff on roquefort which will drive up its price to 60 dollars a pound...completely unsellable. Unless you are a fool and think that thats the only french blue (bleu) cheese worth eating. My point, basically, is "so what". There are literally hundreds of french cheeses and in that region of france there must be a dozen blue cheeses that dont go by the name " roquefort" that are probably just as good if not better than roquefort.

But i want to put it to the locals here on the boards... y à t'il des formages bleus qui sont meillieur, selon vous, que le roquefort?

[guignol]

roquefort is indeed the cadillac of veined cheeses, nothing else produced in france comes close. the real question is whether or not papillon is the best roquefort.

there are different blue cheeses that are authentic in their own right: fourme d'ambert comes to mind.

there's a rather industrial cheese called bleu de bresse that has a croûte fleurie like a camembert and can be considered edible.

there's a "cheese" called saint agur that many people prefer to roquefort: this is properly scandalous as it's more a marketing phenomenon than anything: saltier, creamier than roquefort but with no character at all: the dairy industry's answer to monster munch. an abomination that caters to the dumbing down of french palates. this is what should be sold to americans.